We were very touched by a generous gift sent for relief work from a group of friends in Hawaii.  They specifically wanted Eric and I to use the money to do relief work, and one of their stipulations was this:   (2) you do whatever the Lord asks you to do with the money, no matter how strange or unusual His request.

While Eric was preparing to go this week, we were at the mall picking up some things our kids needed for school.  I walked past a section of women’s scarves in a store, and commented to Eric, “Hey- maybe we should buy some scarves for you to take for women up in Sendai to make them feel special.”  and then I followed it with, “No, that’s probably dumb.”

The next store we were in I walked right into the scarves section, and had to stop.  It felt strange, but I really really wanted to buy scarves for him to take up.  Eric agreed;  I picked out ten different scarves and paid for them.  Then Eric came with ten more – different styles and colors.  We bought those too.  He put them in a bag and we prayed that he would know how to give them away.

Today at dinner our kids and I were sharing highs and lows (it’s becoming a dinner tradition!).  Annie’s low is still school lunch (poor thing – she can’t get used to the variety of mushrooms and fish!), but my high was a picture and a brief message that I got from Eric.  The message was:  “One very happy obaachan (grandmother)”.  Here is the picture.

I have not heard from Eric today other than receiving the photo above… I imagine it has been a very busy day.  (But I really don’t like the television warnings of aftershocks up there tonight!).  So this single photo has been my “high” today.  I will find out tomorrow from Eric more about her story.

I just read a newspaper article that talked about how most people died in the disaster, and the average age:

More than 90 percent of the people confirmed dead in the March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster in the most severely hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima died from drowning, while over 65 percent of them were aged 60 or older, according to the National Police Agency.

My heart hurts for the many seniors who could not flee, as well as those still living in the region who have lost so much.  I’m thankful tonight as I go to sleep that there is one dear old lady wrapped in love and prayers sent from many….